Gun control efforts are sure to backfire

Thursday

Jan 31, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Some how I missed the request for input to the Fosters web site inquiry on gun control. Had a known of it I would have most certainly offered my opinion. Having read the article I will do so now. I believe most Americans are in favor of the “Right to Keep and Bear Arms”. I also think that the New England College poll showing that 72% of New Hampshire residents in favor of an “Assault Weapons” ban is disingenuous. I think this is so because of the word “Assault” and the deliberate misinformation perpetrated by the media as to what an “Assault Weapon” actually is. An AR-15 is not an “assault” weapon. It is a semi-automatic, meaning one bullet for each pull of the trigger. It is not a “machine gun”!

Fosters and every other Media outlet in this country should make it a point to actually educate the public as to what kind of gun a real assault weapon is and what the difference is between an AR-15 and an M-4 which IS an “assault weapon”! When the ultimate subject of “Gun Control” is playing around with Freedom and the Bill of Rights, it behooves the public to know the facts and what the honest definitions of an “Assault Weapon” is. I contend that the majority of NH residents polled by New England College have no idea what a real “Assault” weapon is and were reacting to the word “Assault”. If it’s “Assault” then it must be bad. If it looks evil then it must be bad. They are reacting to a Lie perpetrated by the Left.

Common sense should tell us that the bad guys are not going to pay one whit of attention to a “law.” A gun ban or limitation on availability of a gun won’t stop the bad guys for one second.

I agree that there needs to be background checks. There already are! It is already a law. If you buy a gun from a dealer there is a background check. Period. All this yelling from the left for background checks shows either their ignorance or that they are playing on the fears of the uninformed. As to background checks for “Private sales ... it is unenforceable. If someone thinks it is, tell me how? A law against “Straw-man purchases? Already is one. In fact if you go to buy a guy the first question on the background check form is “Are you buying this gun for someone else?” If the answer is yes, you don’t get the gun! More disinformation from the left.

Limiting rounds in magazines is also unenforceable and on top of that it is dangerous. I am not a cop, but I am in the Security business. I carry a gun every day for my job. Passing a law that limits the amount of rounds I can have available in an emergency puts my life in danger because, again, the bad guy doesn’t care about the law! So this Administration doesn’t mind if I get killed because I have only 10 rounds or less in my magazine just so long as they can feel good about their legislation? Does anyone have any idea how many magazines there are in this country? Let’s us consider for a moment. Three hundred million guns. Three million AR-15 type rifles. AR Magazines come in 5/10/20 & 30 round configurations. Let us say there are 50 million semiauto handguns with magazines holding anywhere from 8 to 17 rounds. The Glock 17, one of the more popular handguns in many many police and civilian holsters holds 17 rounds. (It is called the “Glock 17 because it was the 17th patent, not for the number of rounds in the Mag.) Most every one I know has more than one Magazine for their gun, most have a minimum of 3. So-50 Million Semi-Auto hand guns, 3 Million AR-15 type rifles x3 magazines per guns = 159 million magazines holding more than 8 rounds. Explain to me how a limit on the number of rounds in a Magazine is going to make one iota of difference when there are almost 160 million magazines out there? And your not going to confiscate them. What a limit on rounds will do is create a black market for magazines.

What is needed in my opinion is more education, eliminating “Gun-Frees Zones” (the Granddaddy of bad ideas, they should be re-labeled “Free Killing” zones), gun safety should be taught in the schools. (We had a rifle team when I went to school!) A way to access mental health records needs to be found. But that too is a slippery slope. How and “who” determines if one is crazy or just upset over the death of a loved one, having a tough time emotionally should never infringe on our civil rights!

Gun Control: This is a serious question that needs to be well thought out and not reacted to with knee jerk-”feel good” legislation that infringes on Freedom and Bill of Rights. I am not an “expert” on guns but there have been guns in my house since before I was born. I started collecting and shooting when I was 9. I have supplied guns for the movies and for theater for many years and I know a great deal about them. I respect them but I am not afraid of them. Some people react to a gun as they do a snake; it’s gonna go off by itself and bite me — ridicules and a clear example of lack of education.

This country was built by a man with a gun. Freedom around this world has been won by an American with a gun. Any attempt to limit the right to keep and bear arms will back fire to the detriment of the country.